Improvement in machinery for making wood shanks for boots and shoes



v w. M; SPRAGUE. Machinery for Making Wood-Shanks for Boats and Shoes.

PatentedNov. 25,1873.

AM Pf/am -1/maz;nm/m an Al. X mama/rs Mums} shank-piece from the mainpiece UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIOE.

WTATSON N. SPRAGUE, OF KEENE, NEWV HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGN OR TO HIM- SELF ANDGEORGE GOODYEAR, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING WOOD SHANKS FOR BOOTS ANDSHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,024, dated November2-5, 1873; application filed October 2, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WArsoN'N. SPRAGUE, of Keene, in the county ofCheshire and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Machinery for Cutting and Splitting Wood Shanksfor Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to machinery to be used in the manufacture ofshankpieces consisting of two or more leaves from one solid piece ofwood or similar material, as described in the patent granted to GeorgeGoodyear, September 12, 1871, No. 118,851.

The machinery hereinafter described is designed to form the leaves-twoor more in number, as desired-in the solid piece of wood, by making insaid piece a series of cuts or slits, which divide a-portion of the sameinto leaves or strips of the required number and thickness.

The characteristic features of the machine are as follows: First, arotary tool-holding disk or its equivalent, carrying on its face aseries of blades or cutters, which are set at different distances fromthe face of the holder, so that each blade may cut its own path throughthe Wood. Second, a guide-block or support for the wood to be operatedon, so located that the wood, when placed on it, may be pressed or fedup against the face of the cutter-holding disk in proper position in thepath of the revolving cutters. Third, in connection with the cutters formaking the slits in the shankpiece, I use a cuttingblade, fixed also tothe face of the holding-disk, and of such size and dimensions as tocompletely sever the split or block of wood, a discharge opening beingprovided through the disk in rear of said blade, so that the severedshank can pass through said opening, and clear and fall from the cuttingapparatus, without renderil g it necessary to stop the. machine for thispurpose.

In this way, with a continuously-rotating tool, a block of wood can bedivided up into shank-pieces with great celerity, one piece beingproduced at each revolution of the cuttinghead, the slitting bladesfirst forming the leaves, and the large blade following them,

and severing the slit shank from the main block.

The accompanying drawing represents the manner in which my invention isor may be carried into effect.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cutting mechanism made in accordancewith my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevationof the same. Fig. 3 is avertical section of the same,

in a plane passing longitudinally through the axis of the shaft of therevolving cutter.

The disk or plate that holds the cutter is marked A. It is fixed on ashaft, B, supported in bearings a in a suitable frame, and revolved bysuitable meaus as, for instance, by belting passing aroimd pulley b, andtaking its movement from a suitable driving shaft or pulley.

Thecutter-holding disk is here shown and arranged to revolve in avertical plane. Upon its outer face are fixed the cutters. These cuttersare here four in number, and are lettered O D E F. They are designed toform a shank of four leaves. It will be understood that the cutters willvary in number according to the number of leaves the shank is to have.The cutters O D E form the slits which divide the shank into leaves, andI shall call them the slittingcutters. Gutter F severs the slit shankfrom the stock or main block of wood, and I shall term it theseparating-cutter.

At a suitable distance from the periphery of the disk, about equal tothe length of the shank, there is formed a raised central portion orboss, 0, of circular form, having the axis B as its center. Theperiphery of this raised portion or boss constitutes a ledge orshoulder, d, as seen in Fig. 1. In front of the disk is located theguide and support G, for the wood to be operated on, which guideoccupies the position represented in the drawings, and is formed with aledge or guide-shoulder, e, at a point where it will about meet thepoint or outer end of the separating-cutter F when the latter revolves.The stock or wood from which the shanks are formed is of such dimensionsas to fit between this shoulder e and the aunular ledge d on the disk,and its end is pressed up so as to be in contact with and lie flatagainst that part of the face of the disk intervening between the twoshoulders d e. The slitting-cutters are designed, in this instance, tomake slits of different lengths in the shank. Cutter 0, which shouldmake the first cut, is the shortest blade, and is set nearest to theface of the disk, space being left between the cutter and the disksufficient to make the first leaf of the desired thickness. The secondcutter, D, is a little longer than cutter O, and is set at a greaterdistance from the disk than the latter cutter, so as to form a secondand longer slit in the stock, in aplane in advance or in front of theslit made by cutter O. The third cutter, E, which forms the third leaf,is longer than cutter D, and is set at a greater distance from the faceof the disk than is the latter cutter in order to form a third slit atthe required distance from the second slit. The fourth cutter, F, thenfollows. Its length is equal to or slightly greater than the distancebetween the ledges or shoulders d 0, so that it will completely severfrom the main stock that portion previously partially slit by thepreceding cutters. It is set farther from the disk than the cutter E, sothat the proper thickness of leaf may intervene between its line of cutand the slit made by E. In rear of the slitting-cutters the disk isrecessed, as shown at f, these recesses being of sufficient size topermit the passage of the portion of the wood which must intervenebetween the cutter and the disk as the cutter passes through the stock.At the point where the separating-cutter is located a discharge-opening,g, is formed through the disk, of suitable size and shape to permit thedischarge through it of the split shank severed by said cutter from themain stock. The cutting-edges of the cutters are made slanting, asshown, so that in their revolution they will give a shear-cut ordraw-cut in slitting the wood, instead of having the chopping actionwhich would result were the edges radial.

The guide G and the cutters can be made adjustable, and, if desired,interchangeable sets of cutters may be provided for difi'erent kinds ofwork. I would remark, also, that in lieu of the arrangement of cuttersand disk above described, the cutters may be all set in the same plane,and the face of the disk against which the stock is pressed may be soshaped that it will be at one distance from one cutter and at anotherdistance from another cutter, thus accomplishing the same result as inthe arrangement herein represented, the difference being that in themodification suggested the cutters would all be in one plane,

while the face of the disk would be formed in several different planes,and would thus have an irregular or cam-like formation.

Other ways of arriving at the same result may be readily devised withoutdeparture from the principle of my invention.

Having described my invention, and the manner in which the same is ormay be carried into effect, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. In machinery for cutting and splitting shanks for boots and shoes,the combination of a rotary cutter-holding disk, a series of cutters setat different distances from the face of said disk, so as to make theircuts in diiferent planes, and thus form the leaves of the shank, and aguide for supporting the stock to be op erated on, so that said stockmay be fed in proper position in the path of said cutters, said partsbeing arranged and operated substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of the cutter holding disk, the slitting cutters, theseparating-cutter, and the guide or support for the wood or other stockto be operated on, substantially as and for the purpose shown and setforth.

3. The cutter-holding disk provided with a circular boss or centralprojection, and the slitting and separating cutters arranged on saiddisk, as described, in combination with the guide having a ledge orshoulder, between which and the shoulder formed by the boss the stockmay be pressed and held against the face of the disk in the path of saidcutters, as shown and set forth.

4. The combination of the slitting and separating cutters with thecutter-holding disk, constructed in rear of the slitting-cutters withclearing-spaces, progressively increasing in size to accommodate theincreasing thickness of shank, and a discharge opening or outlet in rearof the separatingcutter, substantially as shown and set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed in y name to this specificationbefore two subscribing witnesses. v \VATSON N. SPRAGUE.

Vt itnesses WM. W. WEBSTER, J. M. WEBsTER.

